Corruption
Corruption is a repetitive concept in the Charmed universe where an individual is driven insane by a magical object or a power in some ways. In some cases, the process is also deadly if not corrected in time. The circumstances are mostly accidental, but can be intentional. As mentioned several times, powers can only be successfully handled by those destined to wield them. When mortals acquire an incredible amount magical powers, it will often make them increasingly unstable until it kills them, as their bodies are physically not prepared to handle such powers. Additionally, great magical power is also shown to have an effect on a being's mental state, likely driving them to madness. In some cases, these powers intensify existing emotions to the point where they become obsessions. Examples *Dr. Curtis Williamson was slowly driven mad after accidentally injecting himself with all of the Charmed Ones' powers, which motivated him to kill criminals and remove their organs to save others.Season 2 episode, "Astral Monkey" *The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse affected all mortals around the world during the shift of the millennium to bring about the end of the world. Piper and Phoebe trapped one of them in a different plane of existence, halting their plan. When their time was up and they failed to complete their destiny, the Source of All Evil destroyed them.Season 2 episode, "Apocalypse, Not" *A Dark Priestess named Dantalian worked with warlock Zile to kidnap Prue Halliwell and perform a Dark Wedding to convert her into a warlock, which subsequently turned her sisters into warlocks and the Book of Shadows evil. By vanquishing Zile, the magic broke and restored their goodness.Season 3 episode, "Bride and Gloom" *Demonic Power Brokers place Power Balls inside of their victims for safekeeping and demonstration, making them first feel confused, then timid, paranoid, angrily violent and demonic before the powers kill them. Karen Young and Paige Matthews were victims to this experiment, but both times they were saved.Season 4 episode, "The Fifth Halliwheel" *Cole Turner was incrementally driven mad after claiming a multitude of demonic powers and Phoebe Halliwell's constant rejections.Season 5 episodes "Sympathy for the Demon" - "Centennial Charmed" *The Power of the Gods is an ancient force of divinity that the Elders imbued on a group of mortals to battle the Titans. After the Titans were encased in ice, the mortals who received the powers refused to return them and declared themselves gods in the process, becoming the famous Greek gods in history.Season 5 episodes, "Oh My Goddess!" *Excalibur made Piper Halliwell power mad after being in her possession for too long. It could only be wielded by the person meant to have it.Season 6 episode, "Sword and the City" *Richard Montana had quit using magic altogether, except in needed situations. When he started actively using it again, the magic in him almost drove him insane.Season 6 episodes, "Used Karma" - "I Dream of Phoebe" *Pandora's Box contained all the evils in the world. If opened, its influence would spread throughout the world and spread enough chaos to crumble cities, destroy lives and devastate all that is good in the world. To keep it from being opened, guardians are tasked to protect it.Season 7 episode, "Little Box of Horrors" *Vicus had a gift for cursing magical children at incremental degrees overtime. As the children grew, they became corrupted despite good influences and eventually become evil.Season 7 episode, "Imaginary Fiends" *Golden Belt of Gaea had the power to corrupt and slowly kill any goodhearted female who wore it, driving them to eliminate the male species before they die.Season 8 episode, "Battle of the Hexes *After Prue merged with the Grimoire, the magical tome resonated with the All and slowly drove her to bring Kyra through time, activate Tyler Michaels's Archai powers, resurrect Benjamin Turner in his son's body, and inadvertently merge with Old One, Heremus, to resurrect the Old Ones. It took reclaiming her place in the Power of Three and a memory spell for Prue to free herself from Heremus's control and let Piper kill her.Season 10 episodes, "Love is a Burning Thing" - "The Reason" Notes and Trivia *The Source of All Evil tried to corrupt Paige Matthews when she was under the Window of Opportunity. *Rage Projection works in a similar manner. It spreads and intensifies anger to make its targets act violently, thus spreading chaos. *Phoebe Halliwell briefly possessed demonic powers in the season 6 episode, "Witch Wars". While the powers didn't kill her, she appeared to have a slightly altered personality as she felt the bloodlust from battle. If she had kept the powers, it may have possibly resulted in the following results: madness, total corruption or less likely death. *In the season 7 episode, "Ordinary Witches", two mortals called Ronny and Denise accidentally received the powers of Phoebe and Piper Halliwell, respectively. Whilst they didn't have control over the powers, it didn't drive them insane like Dr. Williamson. It could be argued that this was because they were possessing one person's power at the time. References Category:Charmed terms